Lolly Adefope is one of the funniest people in comedy right now. That’s not hyperbole – she’s spent the past decade making us laugh on shows such as BBC’s juggernaut comedy Ghosts, where she played Kitty, a Georgian noblewoman, and on the US comedy Shrill, where she played Aidy Bryant’s sex-positive and utterly cool best friend. As well as her starring roles on TV, Adefope has been part of some of the most unique films over the last five years, including Saltburn, Wicked Little Letters and Seize Them!.
Lolly stars in HBO’s new comedy The Franchise, created by Succession writer Jon Brown, executive produced by Veep creator Armando Iannucci, and directed by Sam Mendes. The show centres on the chaos behind the scenes of a franchise superhero film made by a not-so-subtle parody of Marvel Studios. Adefope shines as the 3rd AD (assistant director) Dag, who finds herself taking on the chaos of a superhero film set and the egos of its big-name talent.
This week, the south London-born actor and comedian takes on our 50 Questions, speaking about her love of indie music, production horror stories and why people shouldn’t be so harsh on superhero films.
1. How are you feeling? I’m feeling good. I’m feeling well-rested and full of stamina.
2. Where did you grow up? I grew up in Sutton, in very, very deep south London.
3. What’s a misconception people have about south London? That Sutton isn’t part of south London. People think it’s Surrey, but it’s actually Zone 5.
4. What will you be doing after this interview? I’m probably just going to eat some Suya that I just bought and have a late lunch.
5. What’s something you wish people knew about you? That I’m 5’4 and not 6’2 as they assume. I think I have tall energy.
6. When did you first realise you wanted to be a comedian? As a kid, I wanted to be a Disney child star. But when I was in my twenties I worked out what a comedian was.
7. Who are your comedy icons? Amanda Bynes, Olivia Colman and Sam Campbell.
8. What are your top tips for anyone wanting to try out standup? Write lots of material, always be finessing your material. I started out doing open mics and if that appeals to you, great, but if it doesn’t then don’t think it’s the be-all and end-all. Watch loads of comedy, watch loads of live comedy and go to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, be inspired and get out and do it.
9. Earlier this year, you said that the UK needs Black characters who are also problematic and unlikable. Why hasn’t that happened yet? We’re currently in a phase where representation is the priority and people haven’t quite connected that with complex representation. I can appreciate that representation is important but the next step is varied representation and we can take that leap now.
10. What would you be doing if you weren’t a comedian or an actor? Realistically, I would be working in a very boring office job selling LSAT classes to other countries, but in my imagination, I’d be a DJ or something related to music.
11. You’ve spent six years playing a ghost on TV, but have you ever come across one? Not yet, and I would love to because I’d believe it.
12. If you could haunt anybody, who would it be? I think I’d haunt either Beyoncé or Rihanna. I mean, Rihanna lays it all out there, but Beyoncé is so private that it’d be fascinating to see a day in the life of Beyoncé – whether you’d consider that haunting or not.
13. Do you believe in the paranormal? Yes and no, I feel like people take advantage of other people’s belief in the paranormal for monetary gain. But I don’t think there’s nothing out there at all.
14. Do you believe in astrology? Again, yes but in a good cool way. Astrology encourages people to talk to each other in the same way that two men who are complete strangers and don’t know each other at all can talk about football.
15. What’s the most off-base response you’ve gotten when revealing your star sign? When I say Virgo, and they’re not excited. It’s the best star sign, and I think I’m a very typical Virgo. Everyone forgets about us, but we’re the best.
“We’re currently in a phase where representation is the priority and people don’t have quite connected that with complex representation” – Lolly Adefope
16. What albums have you been listening to recently? Romance by Fontaines DC, Chaos for the Fly, Grian Chatten’s solo album and Shaka Bundu by Penny Penny.
17. You had a DJ set earlier this year at 6 Music Festival. What’s your favourite genre to play? I like nostalgic electro-indie that you can dance to. A lot of indie is very shoegaze-y and sway, but I want the pumpers.
18. Do you have any musical guilty pleasures? I quite like musicals, which I guess is a guilty pleasure. I played Nancy in Oliver when I was ten, and I love the Oliver soundtrack. I think it’s a masterpiece.
19. Can you think of any other creative endeavours you would like to try? I can play the piano a bit from when I was a kid, but I didn’t learn how to read music, so I’d like to learn how to play another instrument. In my dream world, I’d love to play the harp, but that might be impractical.
20. What lessons did you learn from working with Armando Iannucci, Jon Brown and Sam Mendes on The Franchise? So much. I didn’t come up in the industry, so to a certain extent, parts of it are still a mystery to me. Doing a few days on a huge film isn’t the same as knowing the intricacies of what goes into it or the chaos that can exist. The stories that they [Iannucci, Brown and Mendes] have experienced themselves and have heard about how these superhero films are chaos behind the scenes. But also, so much work goes into them regardless of what you think. And how to make the best, funniest thing is something I’ve learnt from them that I’ll carry with me.
21. If you had to describe The Franchise in 3 words, what would they be? Chaotic, inspiring and crazy.
22. What’s your character Dag like? Dag is a new 3rd AD brought in to replace the old 3rd AD that disappeared under mysterious circumstances. She’s very opinionated and says what she thinks – often at a very unhelpful time – but she’s a hustler and wants to get to the top. She’s completely herself, which is quite inspiring but very annoying to those around her.
23. Why should people watch The Franchise? It’s really funny, it’s an incredible ensemble, there’s so much talent, and it’s quite an important showcase for people doing the majority of the work on set. The actors and directors get the glory, but the ADs, the producers and the extras are rarely discussed.
24. Are superhero films over or underrated? Over the last few years, they were considered overrated, and it became a very saturated market. But there’s a line in the show where someone says, ‘An amazing superhero film is like nothing else,’ and that’s so true. I loved Spiderman as a child, and films like that stay with you.
25. What superhero film would people be surprised to know you love or at least enjoyed watching? I love the Robert Pattinson Batman film. I mean, I’ll watch anything with Robert Pattinson in it.
26. Do you have a production horror story? I once did a make-up test for a show and the makeup artist went a bit overboard. She made me super glam, which didn’t work for my character at all, and I was led over to the director, who thought it was great even though I was in huge false eyelashes and contour.
27. Now you’ve reached one of your Notes app goals (starring in an HBO show), what’s next? Moving onto the list of actors I’d love to work with but that remains redacted. It’s sacred but also people can do crazy things and I might regret publicly saying I’d work with them.
28. If you could star in any of your current co-stars’ former projects, what would they be and why? I would’ve loved to be in West Side Story with Isaac Powell.
29. Which actor (living or dead) would play you in a biopic of your life? Wunmi Mosaku because we get confused for each other a lot and we actually do look alike.
30. Who would direct and/or write it? Aidy Bryant would write it, and Andrew DeYoung would direct it.
31. What’s your favourite thing about your job? How diverse it is, no two days are the same, you get to meet so many new people and form really strong connections really quickly.
32. What’s the most challenging part of your job? Waking up at 5am because I love a night out. It’s not natural for me.
33. Do you have any routines when filming? I try to pack a bag of fun little things to bring to my trailer if it’s a long job. Usually, you end up spending more time there than in your own room so making it homely relaxes and soothes me in between scenes.
34. What do your days off look like? A big lie-in, wandering around and not reporting anywhere. When you’re on set everyone’s aware of where you are at all times and everything’s on a strict schedule so doing the opposite is great.
35. Where’s your happy place? On the sofa watching Real Housewives.
“I would rather be ghosted than receive a long paragraph describing why I’m not right for someone” – Lolly Adefope
36. What’s your favourite Real Housewives franchise? New York is the ultimate. I haven’t seen all of them, Beverly Hills is good, but I won’t lie, New York is the winner.
37. What’s your biggest phobia? Trypophobia, fear of tiny holes.
38. What's your worst habit? Biting at the skin around my nails.
39. What’s your most controversial opinion? I’m stealing this from Alexa Chung, but I think ghosting is OK. I would rather be ghosted than receive a long paragraph describing why I’m not right for someone.
40. What’s your relationship with social media like nowadays? I used to think they were amazing and now I realise that they’re depressing me, but I love Tiktok. If all social media could be curated to funny videos that would be perfect regardless of how bad it is for my attention span.
41. Is there any part of you that regrets having such a public-facing career? I’m not being harassed by papparazi or unable to walk down the street so not right now, and if I was ever in that position I’d have to think about the trade-off. At the moment I can’t call myself famous so things are fine.
42. What’s the most awkward celebrity encounter you’ve had? My friend once convinced me to go to a house party because Adam Ant was going to be there. He played Prince Charming in someone’s bedroom, everyone was clapping and cheering, but once it was over he was like, ’Everyone out,’ and we all had to leave. It wasn’t personal but it was awkward.
43. What’s the last film or TV show that made you laugh? We Might Regret This on BBC 2.
44. What’s the last film or TV show that made you cry? This Is Us, but I don’t often cry at TV shows but it made me sob.
45. Which podcasts are you listening to daily? Not on the daily but I love Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel.
46. True crime podcasts: love it or bin it? Probably bin it if it’s pop true crime, but if they’re done well, love it.
47. What are you reading at the moment? All Fours by Miranda July.
48. What’s a book adaptation you’d love to star in? Intimacies by Katie Kitamura. I don’t think I’m particularly right for the character but I love the book so much and think it should be a film.
49. What is the best advice you’ve ever received? I read in an advice column that sometimes the dread you feel about a potential situation is often worse than the thing itself. The finality of ‘something bad’ happening is the beginning and allows movement in your life whereas the fear holds you back.
50. How have you enjoyed this interview? I’ve loved it and had a lovely time, thank you so much.